Social Innovation

Program Overview

Social innovation is a process by which people and teams collaborate to design and create transformative solutions to systemic social and environmental challenges.

At the Taylor Center, we believe the skills and mindsets of social innovation are valuable for people from all backgrounds to learn and apply throughout their lives and work. We define changemakers broadly as “people who use their skills, expertise, gifts, and power in a way that creates positive social change,” recognizing that we all have a role to play in shaping a more just and equitable world. Our scholars embrace a full spectrum of social innovation models that draw from many different theoretical and practical traditions (Murphy, Schoop, Faughnan, and Flattley, 2021). We welcome diverse values and approaches to changemaking that can contribute to transformative systems change.

Our social innovation education can help participants and teams:

Understand complex issues from multiple perspectives
Explore diverse strategies and pathways to systems change
Act in a way that aligns with their values, leverages their unique strengths, and demonstrates awareness of their relationship within the system
Build relationships with a supportive network of place-based changemakers to enhance their learning and impact

We see change as inherently relational, political, contextual, and complex. We embed this understanding in our approach to social innovation by aiming to build shared power, foster mutual support, and engage in collective action that challenges dominant paradigms and transforms unjust systems. We use a place-based, systems-informed, and equity-centered lens to analyze complex social and environmental issues and co-design adaptive change strategies.

KREWE School

KREWE School is a cohort-based program that empowers teams to d eepen their social and environmental impact. Participating teams engage in peer-based learning, redesign their theories of change, explore systemic issues, and leverage human-centered design to amplify their impact over an extended period of time. Our next application will open in 2025; if you’re interested in learning more, tell us here. Anyone interested in learning more about our curriculum and approach can let us know here.

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Coverage of the first annual Professional Development Day on the uptown campus of Tulane. The event was initiated by the Learning and Organizational Development Department which builds a foundation for a learning culture by focusing on enhancing competencies and behaviors needed to support Tulane’s mission and key objectives.

Social Innovation Publications

Staff Contact

Dr. Maille Faughnan

Professor of Practice and Associate Director for Social Innovation

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Want to learn more about Social Innovation? Start here.

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